New York Metro &
New Jersey

July 18th, 2003

Bluefin and…  uhhh…  Great Whites?

Featured Affiliate

Get the Garmin 76s GPS unit - a Reel-Time top product. $400.00 plus shipping.

Yea… You read that right. Not just one, but a few confirmed sightings of large Great White sharks have been reported as close as 10-miles from the Jersey Shore. Apparently these apex predators are feeding on massive amounts of large bluefish that are eating copious amounts of rain-bait, which the school bluefin happen to be eating also. There have also been reports of some giants that are feeding on the blues but no-one seems to be hooking them yet.

Cool stuff!!! Of course the tuna but that shark… Wow… I get goose bumps just thinking about it. I’m a little bit obsessed with Sharks… In fact, I have been so since I was about 6, and the since it’s inception, Shark Week on the Discovery Channel is a sacred thing at my house. So what on earth are these Great Whites doing so far from their natural habitat? Great Whites are a cold-water fish and commonly found on the West Coast and not the Eastern Coast of the US. They’re not juveniles either as one was reported to be well over 20-feet! I hope I’m not causing wide spread panic but this odd occurrence is reminiscent of the 1916 shark attacks in New Jersey. During that year a shark attacked had killed two bathers swimming at the Jersey Shore in the space of a week then traveled into Raritan Bay, swam up Metawan Creek (not more than 4-feet deep in most sections) and killed three more and seriously mauled another within inches of his life. Folks were chased out of the water at Robins Reef in New York Harbor and Coney Island where unconfirmed sightings were made. These incidents caused a national panic and sent federal and state agencies as well as local communities scrambling to find and kill all sharks. Finally, the shark suspected of the attacks was taken by a man in an 8-foot skiff who was dragging a net on the shallow bottom of Raritan Bay, looking for bottom fish for the table. The 8-foot Great White somehow became tangled in the net, came up and attacked the motor. Surprisingly enough, the captain of the small vessel, Michael Schleisser, beat the shark to death with an oar. When the stomach contents of this Great White were checked there were indeed human remains.

Scientists and biologists believe that this shark was ill, had become disoriented, and wondered into a place where its natural food sources were scare. However, it was never concluded whether or not there were several sharks involved in the attacks (many sightings of several sharks together pointed to this fact) or whether or not it was one solo shark. A large bull shark was caught in the Matawan Creek near the spot where it empties into Raritan Bay shortly before the Great White was taken, and dozens of makos and blue sharks were taken out on the ocean pretty close to Sandy Hook that year. While maybe the result of hysteria and misidentification there were hundreds more sightings. Regardless, for whatever reason, most agree that there had been a great influx of sharks into our area in 1916. For whatever reason, 1916 was a "shark year." While these don’t occur frequently, they do occur. Just ask any shark fisherman…

Is this a shark year??? While I don’t anticipate any beachside attacks, the proliferation of small bait, bluefish and tuna close to shore might make it one. I certainly hope so. Would really like to jump a mako on a fly! Will be looking for’em this weekend.

Now on the “conventional” stuff. Summer patterns are setting in in Southern New Jersey’s back county, but cooler weather days have offered some good shots at fish in the 30-inch range. Big blues are still on the vast schools of bunker off the central New Jersey coast. With the bass bight being mainly in the pre-dawn and late evening hours. In Northern New Jersey and the New York Bight the bass fishing improved dramatically as tinker mackerel flooded into areas like Sandy Hook and Breezy point. All the bluefish you want during the daylight hours and good bass action in the early morning and late afternoon. Jamaica Bay is still a bit slow with continuously murky water, but on the other side in Raritan Bay, if you could find the rain bait you were sure to find those bass and blues. The bass fishing on western Long Island got better this week as well. The East End continues to fish well with bass on some of the cooler flats and plenty of fish in Montauk. Offshore, there are thousands of big bluefish readily taking any fly put in front of them, and while those bluefin are there they have been tough to get on a fly so far.

Weather looks good this weekend… So go get’em…

Special Fly Line for School Bluefin Tuna (added by Mark Cahill - Editor)

Just saw a very interesting post from Capt. Derek Spingler of First Light Anglers on the forum. He and Capt. Nat Moody are testing a new line and are looking to get enough interested parties to get the line made. Post in the forum if you are interested.

New SBFT Fly Line!!
We are in the process of finalizing a production run of some specialized shooting heads for the offshore/SBFT angler. I need to order a lot of lines to have them do a special run, so I am curious about the interest. Rio will be making the lines and they will be 550gr shooting head lines with a 70lb core and a coating similar to their Striper 26ft DC lines. This line will also be a 100ft and have a 26' head. Nat and I have been playing with the prototype and absolutely love it. Talking to the tech guys at Rio they have actually improved not only the coating on this line, but also the adhesion of core and coating. Let me know your thoughts. Derek

And don’t forget to email me your own reports. Tight lines all.

Tight Lines!

John McMurray

New Jersey

Captian Bryan DiLeo from Iowa Fortune Guide checks in this week with a report of good back county action in Southern New Jersey:

Capt. Bryan DiLeo/Iowafortune
Ocean City Report/Atlantic City

Another active week down here for Bass. Most of the week we had to dodge
storms but managed to get trips between the cells. Most of the week we had
consistent action but the Bass were a bit smaller than the weeks past until the winds
switched around to the NE. Wednesday the winds came up from the NE then
unexpectedly laid down towards the evening and the backcountry lit up with bass. We
had substantially larger fish mostly all in the mid to upper 30's just
exploding top water flies as well as plugs. The schools of bass were tightly packed
and very predictable allowing us to stay on them indefinitely. The following
days towards the end of the week switched back around to the usual summer
patterns from the SSW and things quieted down with the approach of the week end.
Look for this week to be active offering us very productive night time tides
especially coming off the full moon. Water Temperatures are still in the mid to
upper 60's keeping the larger fish around and on the move.
Capt. Bryan DiLeo
609-926-5415

Farther North Captain Gene Quigley from Shore Catch Guide Service reports some good offshore opportunities as well as great action inshore in the central part of the Jersey Coast…  Check it out:

John,

Things are still rockin down here on all fronts!

Inshore we still have loads on bunker along the beaches and the big blues
have invaded them - 10 to 15 lbs. Large bass are still lurking around and the
bite has been good either early on the morning or late in the afternoon on
topwater poppers and bangers. My Partner Capt. Jim Freda has had clients out all
week and he is doing a number on the slammer blues and bass.

The real story is the offshore scene right now. We have had literally acres
of school bluefin tuna last week out on the inshore lumps and ridges and it has
been the best start for inshore Bluefin that I can remember since the 80's.
The only glitch is that they are very difficult to catch right now. Fly fishing
is probable the best way to go for right now as they are feeding on small
rainfish and squid up on the surface. Floating and/or Intermediate lines with
small surf candies and Mushmouths should be the technique of choice. I am running
exclusively offshore until the Sept. Albie run from both Manasquan and Cape
May.

HUGE pods on big slammer blues are also out in the Mudhole and you can
basically catch em on top until your arms fall off. This week I witnessed LARGE 100
to 200 LB bluefin gulping 10 LB bluefish like they were spearing. Local
Sharpie Dean Nelson was out over the weekend and called to tell me that he had a 20+
ft great white shark right next to his boat and caught it all on video!!!

Once these tuna's settle in this could be THE year for inshore Bluefin in
Central, NJ - Just like the days of yester year with giants being caught 20 miles
off the beach.

In the surf the guys have also been starting to sight fish for the cowe nosed
rays as well.

That's all for now,

Capt. Gene Quigley
Shore Catch Guide Service

From Northern New Jersey Captain Paul Eidman from Reel Therapy checks in with this report: 

Hi John-
It's hit or miss here with the Bass, but the bluefish are biting well. Weakfish are beginning to reappear as well. The waters around the NY/NJ bight are cleaning up and stabilizing right now. This will help our fishery dramatically. We are seeing bay anchovies, micro bunkers and alot of other small bait so the False Albacore and Atlantic Bonito should be arriving and feeding shortly. .seen some forked tails out there already.. Now booking for the upcoming madness on the fly.  Figure on dates between early august thru Columbus day, during the week is best.  Also reserving dates for August Kayak trips in central NJ, paddle local backwaters, great for beginners and significant others.gather a group of 6-12 people and have a great time!
Tight Lines...
Paul
Capt. Paul Eidman
www.reeltherapy.com
Discover Central NJ's Great Outdoors!
Saltwater Fly Fishing/Light Tackle Charters
Guided Kayak Ecotours
732 922 4077

Jamaica Bay continues to be slow with the exception of the thousands of cocktail blues in Windhole Channel.  Outside, however, is a different story as bass and larger bluefish have been under the birds just about every morning with many fish in the 30-plus inch range.  The bait seems to be several different species of rain bait with tinker mackerel being predominant.   Dino Torrino from Fin Chaser reports good bass fishing in the early morning hours. 

Captain Joe Mattioli form On The Bight Charters reports good action also…  Check it out:

Hi John
 
The Bass activity picked up this week with blitzes lasting for 2 hours, fish up to 12lbs were caught using chart/wht and olive/ wht clousers. Bluefish are still the mainstay with fish up to 8lbs.
 
Capt. Joe Mattioli
On The Bite Charters

Western Long Island

From the North Shore, Reel-Timer Angelo Peluso checks in with this report:

Hi John,
More of the same out this way for the early part of the week. Lots of small blues with an occasional bruiser. Bass for me continue to be an early morning game but they have not been as consistent as they should be. That seems to be true for most of the fly fishermen I know. The bait chunkers are doing a lot better on a more regular basis, but even then it can be hit or miss. I did manage a few more keepers on flies in the 36/37 inch range and those are always very pleasant encounters. Perhaps this low barometer will get some more of them in a fly-friendly mood. There has been less activity with fluke on the fly this past week which leads me to believe the large masses of those fish are spreading out and heading to deeper holding areas. But we'll keep casting...Now I just wait for one of those early season, advance bonito patrols to show up! Till next week...Angelo

Eastern Long Island

From East Hampton Captain Brendan McCarthy reports continued good sight fishing action:

Hey John
the flats are holding up surprisingly well as the water temps are still down
and the water is still very clear. These fish have been on the flats awhile,
so they are no push-overs. Incoming tide is fishing best. Most everyone out
here fishing the flats are kinda slow- weather it is the economy, or they
think it is over, or everyone is booked. kind of strange to see such a lack of
boats and fishermen. Less pressure on the fish, which is good.
take care
Capt. Brendan McCarthy
http://home.nyc.rr.com/urbanflyguides
PS The fall in Montauk books real early, so if anyone is looking to get
dates this fall, call you favorites early

Captain Jim Hull from Light Tackle Challenge is still putting people of some really big fish on the South Side.  Check it out:

Hi John, Full moon waning with premium afternoon tides in July and a ton of huge fish under the boat, how sweet it is. Those fortunate enough to be out here have been handsomely rewarded. The heavy line crowd (bait and wire) have been Killing Them literally with 40 and 50 lbers being dragged off while we sacrificial lambs using fly and ultra light format have had some great days too with most of the real big ones lost and the odd one boated and released. Had out Max Nagura and Mr.Araki throwing half+halfs and poppers to 12 bass to 29lbs.in the rain. Hawk,Ryan and Chris whipped them good with around 30 fish with advantage Hawk and his decievers. One fish was kept for the table. Jeff Lightcap on the bow and yours truely at the helm was a winning combo with him seeing 12 fish come boatside including his personal best, a 42" 30lb.14yr.old female, released strong. Robert and his first mate Lisa had a great day with 6 fish with a 40" trophy in the mix.An 8wt.and hog frog  was used. Jim Davis was on my bow for 8 bass taking his flys to 27lbs. The avid cape fly fisherman said his day in Montauk eclipsed his best day ever on the cape. It is true that I have seen more big bass this year than in the last 14 years of fishing and keeping records at The End. Till next week, get her on the reel fast then pump up and reel down. Jim (captainjimhull@aol.com) 631-749-1906

From the Montauk Side, John Papciak sent in this report:

Fished Friday night on the N side of Montauk from rocks. Nada. I was throwing a silicone over yak hair pattern, then some deceivers.

Went back last night (at the top of the drop, Friday fished the bottom of the tide) with spinning gear. I had a mess of small blues and a lone bass on a darter.

In summary, the N side of Montauk) was very slow this spring. This is the first year I really didn’t connect with fish there in the spring.

On the other hand, the south side has been better, esp for larger fish, but the seas have been rough and most nights could not fish it from the rocks, as was the case this past weekend.

Farther west in the Shinnecock area Captain Don Kaye from Shinnecock Guiding check in with this report:

We had the rain, we had the wind, now...we've got Acres of Bluefish! Tough to get the flies and lures down to the Bass thru the Blues! However, chasin' those Blues is lots of fun. Captured and released more than 25 tough fighting, jumping, toothsome 'critters this past session on Shinnecock Bay! A wire trace between the fly and leader helped to save those well-tied "Clouser-type" flies. The baits that the Blues were chasing varied between Sandeels and small "whitebaits", "peanut Bunker", etc. Lots of tight lines and happy anglers.Plenty more to come! Capt. Don Kaye, Shinnecock Guiding, 631-7288175

From the shore, Salty Flyrodder Joel Filner reports from the sidelines:

Fishing for me the last week is all by vicarious adventure. A torn
rotator cuff prevents my lifting my left arm higher than my waist
therefore limiting my retrieve, haul, winding in, and worse should I
fall in prevent me from swimming. In the mean time fishing in
Shinnecock is very selective, with only three good reports for the
week.  Stripers of 24 to 28 inch are very picky eaters, with most of
the activity on the outgoing beginning about 730 PM through the tide,
and from early morning, 3 through first light ending about 6 AM.
Saturday's wind made it difficult for all, including the boats. Other
locations, Goff point remain steady with some blues, and mid size
stripers. Still some weakfish around Jessops and once the jet skiers
die, Towd point in the early mornings find some blues and small
stripers.  Water temps are holding at 68 or so. Flies that are
successful are the sand eels, epoxy or clouser, spearing, and poppers
in the morning. Only three more weeks of watching for me.

That’s all for this week…  See’ya out on the water…